It’s the time of year where we at NAFEMS reflect on the previous 12 months, and examine the activities and progress of the organisation as a whole. Our AGM is being held early this month (October), in conjunction with the NAFEMS France Conference in Paris, and it gives members the opportunity to meet with the Council of Members (i.e. our board of directors) to discuss the organisation in an open forum. Despite difficult economic circumstances, which personally I’m tired of hearing about so I won’t bore you further, NAFEMS continues to flourish in the analysis and simulation community. Membership levels have held strong, and are on course to show a further increase in the current year, and activities have grown once again, holding a record number of seminars, courses, webinars and conferences. It seems that the community is as keen as ever to move forward and develop simulation across all industries, and here at NAFEMS we see it as our mission to facilitate this development in any way we can.

This means that the development of the organisation continues at pace. As a not-for-profit association, all income is reinvested in the organisation in order to produce more publications, run more events, and expand our presence for the good of the community. This year alone we are running a record number of conferences, with the UK conference having taken place in June, and the French, Nordic, North American (virtual), and freshly announced “Simulation Data Management” conference due to take place over the next few months. Details of all these events can be found in the middle-section of this issue.

We are consistently amazed at the time and effort those individuals on our working and steering groups dedicate to NAFEMS. The organisation relies on their efforts and dedication, and there is always space for more volunteers to get involved and make a contribution to the community, which is, afterall, what NAFEMS is – a community of those involved in simulation and analysis. If you feel you could make a contribution to our activities, either in an area we are already covering, or one which you feel we should look into, please do get in touch with us.

The same applies to benchmark magazine itself. If you have an article or paper that you think would be of interest to the wider community, send it to me –we consider articles from all areas of simulation from across industry.

NAFEMS’ strength is in its membership. I would encourage you to get involved, in whatever way you feel you could contribute. The rewards, both professionally and personally, can be immensely satisfying, and the contribution you make could well have a bigger impact on the analysis world than you might expect.